Dancing with the Past
by WritingHealstheHeart
Summary: The sequel to "Unexpected Love" - join Spencer and Chelsea as they experience Chelsea's exhibition with someone that makes Spencer jealous, Chelsea meets Spencer's mom, the team enjoys Christmas together, and someone from Spencer's past appears. *If you enjoyed the first story, I believe you will enjoy this one as well* Rated M for language and sexual situations
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys – here is the sequel to Unexpected Love. I hope you enjoy it as we learn a little more about the characters. Leave any feedback – positive or negative (not mean – constructive criticism). Thanks!

(xxxxx)

Chelsea walked into the dance studio, tossing her bag onto the floor. She sat down to change into her dance shoes. Standing up she plugged in her iPod and started her music as she warmed up. The door swung open as one by one her class filtered in.

"Hey girls. Next week we are off for Christmas break, which gives us only two more classes before the exhibition. So we have a lot to do! Let's start off with the first routine. Get into your positions." Chelsea walked over to her iPod, pushed play and Meghan Trainor's _Me Too_ blared across the room. The girls began moving around the room as Chelsea called out words of encouragement and constructive criticism. Once they finished she clapped happily. "Great work! That looked fantastic! I want you to keep practicing your parts at home so you don't lose that rhythm. Let's run through it one more time before we change our shoes for the ballet routine."

An hour and half later, Chelsea walked out of the dance studio and locked the doors. It had just started to snow as she walked to her car. As she reached the door to her SUV she heard a scream. She instinctively followed the sound to an alley behind the dance studio. As she rounded the corner, she heard another shriek and saw a man push a girl to the ground. As she ran towards him, she could see he was kicking the body over and over.  
"Hey! Knock it off!" she screamed as she ran full speed toward the person. When she reached the girl, her heart stopped as three other figures emerged from the shadows. They were holding bats and other weapons in their hands. Chelsea wished she had grabbed her gun, but it sat in her glove compartment.

"Leave her alone. I'm with the FBI and already called for backup," she lied hoping they would retreat.

"Mama here thinks she's gonna scare us," one of the guys laughed.

"She didn't call no back up," another one said.

"If that's the risk you want to take," Chelsea bluffed.

"Yah man, she could be telling the truth. Let's roll," the tallest of the group said.

The group reluctantly agreed before starting to walk off. Chelsea bent over to check on the girl lying in a ball on the ground when she felt something slam into her back. She cried out in pain as she dropped to the pavement. As she rolled over, she saw one of the guys was back and he was about to hit her with the bat. She threw herself out of harm's way just in time to hear the bat hit the cement. She swung out her foot successfully knocking the kid off his feet. She jumped up to see two of the other kids had come back. She stood in battle mode ready to fight.

"You don't want to do this," Chelsea threatened them again.

With that the kid with the bat swung at her again. She jumped out of the way and ran forward plowing the kid to the ground. She felt a hand grab her by the hair. She ran backwards using the momentum to push him up against the opposite wall with the boy still holding on to her. She used her arm and elbow to lay a few blows to the face before she was wacked hard in the stomach with something. She felt the air rush from her lungs as a knee shot up into her face. She fell to the ground as three sets of feet and hands took turns beating her. Suddenly it all stopped as darkness engulfed her.

Chelsea opened her eyes and looked around her surroundings. She was shivering from the cold and disoriented. She tried to sit up but her body protested. Looking around she saw the young girl was still curled up on the ground. Inching her way across the cement she collapsed next to the girl. Reaching a shaky hand out, she pushed the hood away from the girls face to see if she was alive. Her heart stopped as she recognized it as one of her assistant teachers. She slid her finger to the girl's neck and sighed when she felt a pulse.

"Cammie? Cammie can you hear me?" Chelsea asked.

The girl didn't respond and Chelsea felt herself growing weak. She laid on her back and tried to get her phone out of her pocket. When she was finally able to, she tried dialing 911. The screen on her phone was cracked which made it difficult to navigate. As shards of the glass went into her fingers, she gave up and she dropped the phone onto the ground. Her head was throbbing as she lay staring up at the snow falling from the sky. Rolling over she placed her face into the snow and closed her eyes.

(xxxxx)

Spencer looked at his watch again. It wasn't like Chelsea to be late. He tried calling her phone multiple times, but kept getting voicemail. He finally gave into his concerns and called Emily.

"Hey handsome," she said casually into the phone.  
"Umm, Chelsea hasn't called you by any chance, has she?" he asked without a hello.

"No, why?" she said picking up on the concern in his voice.

"Oh, no it's nothing. She probably just got held up," he said trying to convince himself.

"What's going on?" she pushed him further.

"We were supposed to meet for dinner after her dance class. That ended about thirty minutes ago. I keep calling her cell, but she's not answering," he said pacing in front of the restaurant.

"Where are you?" Emily asked as she jumped up to grab her coat and purse.

"I'm at Eddie's," he said glancing behind him. "I'm sure I'm overreacting," he tried again.  
"I'm on my way. I'll be there in ten minutes."

20 minutes later, Emily pulled her car up to the dance studio. The lights to the building were out and Chelsea's car was still parked in the lot. Emily immediately opened her phone and put it to her ear.

"Garcia, hey I need a favor. You near your computer? Can you track Chelsea's cell?" she asked as Spencer walked around the car looking for a sign of where she might have gone. All the footprints in the snow were gone because of the continued snow fall. "Where? Ok, where in proximity is that to the dance studio?" Emily waved at Spencer and they took off running around the back of the building. As they neared the alley they saw the two bodies lying lifelessly on the ground. "Garcia, call 911!"

Spencer ran past Emily and dropped to his knees, brushing the snow off of Chelsea's body. He placed a hand to her neck.

"She has a pulse," Spencer said to Emily who was checking on the other girl.

"She does as well."

Spencer ran his hand across Chelsea's cold cheek gently. "Chelsea, can you hear me? Chelsea, baby open your eyes for me," he said. As he continued to stroke her bruised cheek he saw her eyes start to twitch. "That's it, baby. Look at me. Look at me," he coaxed her as her eyes fluttered opened.

She looked around confused before her eyes caught Spencer's. He smiled at her as he felt himself choking up. "There's those beautiful blue eyes."

"Cammie," she said in raspy voice.

"She's alive," he said as the sound of sirens blared through the night. "Help is almost here darling. Just hang in there."

"I'm tired," Chelsea said as her eyes started closing.

"No, Chelsea. Don't go to sleep. Look at me. Keep your eyes on mine," Spencer insisted. Chelsea obeyed and looked at him. "If you wanted to play in the snow, you should've just asked." He said trying to keep her awake. She laughed softly which comforted Spencer.

"Don't look so sad Nightingale," she said as she lifted a hand to his cheek.  
"I don't suppose you'd tell me what that nickname means?" he said trying to keep her distracted.  
"I might have a concussion, but I'm still cognitive enough to keep that a secret," she teased.

"One day I'll get it out of you," he said kissing her cold forehead.

With that the paramedics arrived and began working on the two girls. Spencer stayed out of the way, but close by. He felt Emily grab at his hand. He glanced at her and she gave him a comforting smile.

"She'll be ok," she assured him.

He nodded, but inside he was praying harder than he ever prayed before.

(xxxxx)

Spencer sat by Chelsea's side as she slept. They had been at the hospital for a few hours and were unsuccessful at keeping her awake. She had fallen unconscious again on the ambulance ride over. Spencer turned when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned to see J.J. standing behind him.

"How's she doing?"

Spencer turned his attention back to Chelsea. "Stable. She has a concussion, a broken nose, and three bruised ribs," he said. "The rest are just minor cuts and bruises."

"Do they know what happened?" J.J. asked as she pulled up a chair to sit next to Spencer.

He shook his head. "No. There aren't any cameras in that area, so unfortunately with no witnesses at this time the cops don't have much to work with." He swallowed hard at the anger he felt inside. Reaching out he grabbed Chelsea's wounded hand and held it gently. He ran his thumb over the top of her hand. Before J.J. could respond there was a knock on the door. Both J.J. and Spencer looked at the tall young black boy that stood staring at them. He was dressed in jeans and a gray hoodie. He looked distraught.

"Excuse me, is this the room of the FBI agent that was jumped?" he asked as he ran his hands together nervously.

Spencer stood up and walked towards the boy.

"Yes," he said narrowing his eyes at the boy questioningly.

"I know who did this to her," the boy stated.

"How do you know?" Spencer said as J.J. joined him by his side.

The kid shuffled anxiously in the doorway and glanced to the left and right before looking back into Spencer's eyes. "Because I was there when it happened."


	2. Chapter 2

At the station, Derek walked into the interrogation room to talk with the boy who just confessed to witnessing Chelsea's beating. The boy was leaning over the table in a clearly terrified pose. He chewed nervously at his fingernails and only looked up when Derek had taken his seat across from the boy.

"Terrance?" Derek asked trying to confirm his identity.

"Yes, sir," the boy said meekly.

"So why don't you tell me what happened?" Derek asked leaning back in his chair folding his arms across his chest.

"Yes, sir. My friends, they wanted … they wanted to confront Cammie," he began.

"Why?" Derek interrupted.

The boy fidgeted in his seat. It was clear he was debating how much of the truth to share.

"Here's the thing Terrance. There is an FBI agent unconscious at a hospital right now because of you and your friends. You are in a world of trouble. I suggest you be as open as you possibly can if you want to get any mercy from the justice system," Derek said angrily.

Terrance took a deep breath and nodded. "Junior, he wanted us to go scare Cammie because she owed him money for cotton. We were just supposed to threaten her and get her to pay him the two hundred she owed him. When she said she didn't have the money … he started beating her. Then this woman comes running towards us and says she with the FBI. Junior and John they just laughed at her, but I … I just had this feeling she was telling the truth. I convinced the guys to back off, but by the time we got to the end of the alley, they ran back and started beating her too," he said as tears started to fill his eyes.

"Where did you go?" Derek asked.

"I ran home," he said as a few tears escaped. "I saw my sister sitting on the couch and realized that shit could've been her. Cammie was in her dance class man. She was one of the helpers … ya know like teacher in training or something. That could've been my baby sister bein' jumped like that," he said with genuine concern. "I was freaked out. At first I … I just wanted to sleep and forget it ever happened, but I kept seeing the image of the girls …" He ran his hands over his face. "I never wanted this to happen."

There was a knock on the door and Hotch popped his head in. Derek walked over to the door and stepped out. When he stepped into the hall, Hotch delivered the bad news. "I just received a call from Doctor Webb, Camilla Martin didn't make it." Derek dropped his head dejected. Turning on his heels he went back into the room.  
"Terrance, this just got a whole lot worse for you boy," he stated.

(xxxxx)

Spencer stood staring out the hospital window at the traffic below. It was hard to believe that as they stood suffering a tragedy, below others were continuing with their lives blissfully unaware.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Spencer turned to see Chelsea smiling at him from the bed. His smile grew wide as he walked over to her beside.

"How are you feeling?" he asked leaning over to kiss her forehead.

"I have a headache and I feel a bit queasy, but alright I suppose," she said running her hand along his arm. "How are you holding up?" She asked looking at his worried eyes as he sat down on the bed.

"Now that you are awake, better," he said honestly as he grabbed her hand and linked their fingers.

"There's more. What's wrong?" she asked still seeing the sadness in his eyes. "How is Cammie?" Spencer looked down at the floor before turning his gaze back to her. He didn't need to say anything. She could read the truth in his expression. Laying her head back down onto her pillow, she closed her eyes as tears streamed from them.

"Baby I'm so sorry," Spencer said kissing her forehead again.

Chelsea threw her arms around Spencer's neck holding him tightly against her.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea opened the door to her house and walked inside. Spencer followed closely behind. He shut the door to the house, locking it before placing her keys on the counter. It had been a hard morning for Chelsea at Cammie's funeral. She walked into the kitchen and immediately started making herself a cup of coffee.

"Why don't you go sit down? I can bring that to you," Spencer offered.

Walking over to him she draped her arm around his neck and gave him a quick kiss. "Sweet boy, I'm ok. I can make coffee," she assured him though he could see how drained she was.

Spencer put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer. "But I like taking care of you," he said pouting a little.

"Well I know a way you can take care of me," Chelsea flirted as she batted her eyelashes at him.

He wasn't expecting that reaction. Spencer tried to hide his smile as he leaned in to kiss her again. As their kiss intensified Chelsea moaned into Spencer's mouth exciting him further. Suddenly the sound of the doorbell interrupted their make-out session. They pulled apart and sighed.

"We will pick that up later," Chelsea said as she slapped him on the butt on the way out of the room. She got to the front door and opened it to find Penelope and Derek standing there.

"Comfort food!" Penelope called as she threw her arms around Chelsea's neck. "How are you feeling? I'm sorry we weren't able to be there" She said pushing her way into the house.

Derek just shrugged before giving Chelsea a hug. "Hope we aren't interrupting anything," he said.

"No Spence and I just got home," she said as she followed him into the house.

The two of them followed Penelope into the kitchen where she was already unpacking the food. Derek walked over to Spencer and held out his knuckles for a fist bump and in the usual fashion Spencer grabbed it and shook it instead.

"Dig in! Oh, Chelsea I'm supposed to make sure you are in for dinner at Rossi's on Christmas Eve?" she said before taking a seat. "He does this every year and makes the greatest Italian spread!"

"Sure I'd love to go. I'd never miss a chance to eat Rossi's food," Chelsea said as she spooned rice onto her plate. "Spence you going?"

Spencer nodded with his mouth already full of food. After swallowing he wiped his mouth before answering. "Yea, you want me to pick you up?"

"That works for me," Chelsea answered as Penelope let out an awe.

"You guys are so adorable," she said.

Chelsea giggled and rolled her eyes as Spencer blushed.

"Alright, that's enough of that. What are we doing tonight? I'm feeling competitive," Chelsea said trying to steer the conversation away from the talk of their relationship.

"What about Pictionary?" Penelope suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Chelsea said. "Spence?"

"Yea, I'll play," he agreed.

"Ok, Penelope you team up with Derek. I'll be with Spence," Chelsea said.

"Wow, shocker," Derek joked. "Good thing cause I'm going to kick your butt to Reese's Pieces!" Everyone laughed as Chelsea tossed a cashew at him.

"Big talk from a little player," Chelsea teased back.

"Little? Baby, there ain't nothin' little about this boy," he said using his hands to showcase from his neck downward.

"Ok, ok. Let's just let this one go before I learn more about Morgan than I ever wanted to," Spencer said waving his hands in front of himself.

"You can fill me in on that later," Penelope flirted as she winked at Derek.


	3. Chapter 3

The song used in this chapter is _Nightingale_ by Demi Lovato. It's a beautiful song and one that inspires me quite frequently. This is one of the songs that inspired this entire series. Enjoy!

(xxxxx)

Spencer opened the car door for Chelsea as she slid out of the front seat. Her short red dress just reached above her knee. Her hair was pulled up in a stylish ponytail. Spencer leaned over and kissed Chelsea, surprising her.

"Oh, what was that for?" she asked as his face stayed close to hers.

"You are so beautiful," he said staring at her intensely.

Chelsea blushed and gave him another quick kiss. "Thank you, you are pretty gorgeous yourself," she replied.

"I still don't know how I got lucky enough to call you mine," he said running a hand across her cheek.

"Don't be silly. I'm the one who's lucky to have you," she challenged him.

"Get a room," they heard behind them.

They were so wrapped up in loving on each other, they didn't realize that Derek and Penelope had arrived. Spencer dropped his hands to Chelsea's hips as they turned to face the two friends.

"You wanna go inside or what?" Derek asked still teasing them.

"Spence we really should stop. We're probably making Derek feel bad that he's alone," Chelsea said feigning sadness.

Spencer laughed as Derek did a fake chuckle. Grabbing her hand, Spencer led Chelsea inside.

After eating dinner everyone settled into the living room to hand out their gifts to their secret Santas. A week prior to the dinner, the team had chosen names out of a hat and they were to buy a gift for that person that wasn't expensive, but was meaningful. One by one they began opening their presents. Hotch received a joke book from J.J, Rossi got a ticket to a Cigar and Wine convention coming to the area from Emily, Penelope bought Derek an at home workout kit, Derek gave Emily an original book in Russian (Spencer helped with this), Hotch got Penelope a onesie cat pajamas, and Spencer bought J.J. a day at the spa. When it came time for Chelsea to give her gift she walked over to Rossi and whispered in his ear. His eyes got bigger and he nodded as if impressed. Chelsea nervously fiddled with her dress.

"Ok, so I got Spencer and I know I was supposed to buy something, but I sort of did that anyway …" she took a deep breath. "So, I decided I wanted to do something different. Something special. But first I have to explain a little bit to all of you. I don't want to get dark and heavy on a beautiful night, so I'm just going to be brief."

Spencer swallowed hard and shot a look at Rossi. Rossi looked at Spencer and realized Chelsea had told him everything. He nodded assuring Spencer it would be alright.

"When I was little my sisters and I … we wanted to be in a band together. We used to perform for our family and friends all the time. We did talent shows at school, we did county fairs in the area. Our dream was to become professional when we were older. Anyway … they passed away when I was 12 … so umm … I stopped singing," she said feeling emotional. Her eyes were tearing up.

Everyone sat silently looking at her, unsure what to say. Spencer wanted to tell her to stop, that she didn't need to say anymore, but he sat frozen as she opened up to the team.

"I haven't sang since that day. Not in the car. Not in the shower. It felt like I was betraying them if I did. Recently … I feel different. I feel like as much as it hurts it's ok to move on," she said smiling at Spencer as she tried to fight the tears. "You have a lot to do with that. You make me feel stronger and happier than I've ever been. So this is my gift for you Spence. I hope you like it and I hope that after 20 years of not singing, that I can still hold a tune," she said smiling as the others chuckled softly.

Walking over to the piano in the room, Chelsea sat down and took a deep breath. She began to play the piano as she started to sing.

 _I can't sleep tonight_

 _I'm wide awake and so confused_

 _Everything's in line, but I am bruised_

 _I need a voice to echo_

 _I need a light to take me home_

 _I kinda need a hero, is it you?_

 _I never see the forest for the trees_

 _I could really use your melody_

 _Baby I'm a little blind_

 _I think it's time for you to find me_

 _Can you be my nightingale_

 _Sing to me I know you're there_

 _You can be my sanity_

 _Bring me peace_

 _Sing me to sleep_

 _Say you'll be my nightingale_

 _Somebody speak to me_

 _Cause I'm feeling like hell_

 _Need you to answer me_

 _I'm overwhelmed_

 _I need a voice to echo_

 _I need a light to take me home_

 _I need a star to follow_

 _I don't know_

 _I never see the forest for the trees_

 _I could really use your melody_

 _Baby I'm a little blind_

 _I think it's time for you to find me_

 _Can you be my nightingale_

 _Sing to me I know your there_

 _You can be my sanity_

 _Bring me peace_

 _Sing me to sleep_

 _Say you'll be my nightingale_

 _I don't know what I'd do without you_

 _Your words are like a whisper come through_

 _As long as you are with me here tonight_

 _I'm good_

 _Can you be my nightingale_

 _Still so close_

 _I know you're there_

 _Ohhhh, nightingale_

 _You sing to me_

 _I know you're there_

 _Cause baby you're my sanity_

 _You bring me peace_

 _Sing me to sleep_

 _Say you'll be my nightingale_

 _Ohhh mmm_

Everyone clapped, there were a few whistles, and stood up to tell her how great she did, while Spencer still sat on the couch stunned that she had done that for him. That those words reminded her of him. That she saw him as someone who brought her peace. He was her nightingale. His heart was pounding with so much love he didn't even know what to do. After listening to everyone's praise she walked over to Spencer. He stood up and looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"Hey, let's head into the kitchen. I have dessert," Rossi said trying to give the two of them a moment of privacy.

The group left the room as Chelsea stopped inches in front of Spencer. She was looking down at her feet nervously. She just opened up about her feelings for him right in front of everyone. She suddenly felt the urge to vomit and take it all back. She looked up into his eyes and saw the emotion behind his glare.

"Did you like it?" she asked as her adrenaline wore off.

Spencer opened his mouth to speak, but sighed instead. "Chelsea I've never had anyone … in my life who has cared for me as deeply as you," he started. "I'm honestly a bit speechless at the moment. There are no words to describe how much that meant to me."

Reaching out he pulled her into a hug as she burst into tears on his shoulder. He could no longer hold back his emotions and let a few tears escape his eyes as well.

"I love you so much," he said into her hair.

Chelsea didn't respond, she just looked up and brought his lips to hers in a passionate kiss that left the two of them breathless. "I love you too. More than words could ever describe," she said. They both wiped their eyes and headed back into the kitchen. When they entered, they each walked over to grab some dessert. Chelsea felt a tap on her back. Turning around she saw Rossi standing with a gift in his hand.

"You kind of overshadowed my gift to you, but didn't want to miss giving it to you," he said smiling at her. Chelsea took the gift and slowly opened it. Inside was a stack of photos. Chelsea looked up at him with tears in her eyes again.

"They're pictures of your family. If you are ready to look at them," he said.

"But … how?" she asked scrunching her brows in confusion.

"Your grandparents and I put all of your family's treasured belongings away in a storage unit. We figured some day you may want them," he said as she threw her arms around his neck crying again.

Everyone stopped to watch this interaction. It was extremely emotional making them look at Spencer.

"Not now," he said.

They let it go and continued their conversations as if nothing was going on.


	4. Chapter 4

A little sex in this chapter, you can skip it if you don't like it.

(xxxxx)

Spencer and Chelsea barely got into the house, before they were groping at each other. Chelsea pulled Spencer's jacket off and tossed it on the floor before he started undoing his tie. Chelsea flipped her shoes off as Spencer unbuttoned his shirt. They continued to toss the discarded items on the floor as they walked to the bedroom. By the time they reached the room, Chelsea was left only in her underwear and Spencer in his pants. He lifted her up into his arms and attacked her mouth feverishly as he placed her down on the bed. Climbing over her, she could feel his want pushing through his pants.

"I love you," Spencer said as he leaned back to look at Chelsea.

"I love you," she replied before pulling him back against her. "Now show me how much."

The next morning, Chelsea woke up to the sound of Christmas music playing gently in the living room. She slipped out of bed and threw Spencer's shirt over her body. She buttoned three buttons before wandering out of the bedroom. She walked past the Christmas tree that now had gifts underneath and wandered into the kitchen where Spencer was pouring himself a cup of coffee. He was only wearing his pants from the night before.

"Well, good morning," he said turning around to face her.

Chelsea smiled at him before snuggling against his chest. She felt him kiss the top of her head.

"Merry Christmas," he said.

"Merry Christmas," she said back before stealing a sip of his coffee. "Oh, that's good."

Spencer laughed and handed her his cup. He poured himself another one as she stood by watching.

"So we have a couple of options today," Chelsea began as she leaned against the counter. "We can open presents now and get that part over with … or …" she lifted the shirt she was wearing up slightly showing that she had no underwear on. "We can play for a bit before opening gifts." She wiggled her eyebrows at him making him laugh.

"How do I turn that down?" he said placing his cup down on the counter.

Just as Spencer reached out to pull her close, his cell phone started ringing. He looked down at it and held it up for Chelsea to see. "It's my mom."

"Take it babe. I'm going to go brush my teeth … maybe start the shower," she flirted.

"Yea this won't be awkward," he said pointing down at the clear erection he had.

Chelsea giggled as she kissed his cheek and licked his ear lobe. "Better hurry than," she laughed.

Spencer watched her walk away. "I'll call her later," he said running after Chelsea.

He picked her up around the waist and spun her around as she squealed. He started tickling her as she laughed and tried to break free from his arms. He dropped her onto the bed as she screamed.  
"Say mercy," he teased.

"Mercy damn it! Mercy!" she yelled as he finally stopped tickling her.

"I love that smile," he said running his fingers across her lips. She tried to bite him before leaping forward onto his lap and pushing him onto his back.

"Alright, your turn to ask for mercy," she said with a devilish look in her eyes.

Reaching down she started to undo his pants as he leaned back on his elbows watching. She lifted herself off of him just enough to get his pants off. To his surprise, she didn't reappear back on the bed. Instead she had dropped to the floor on her knees.

"What are …" he started to say until it dawned on him.

Chelsea placed her kiss on top of his erection causing a curse to slip through his lips. He laid back on the bed as she used just her mouth to tease and please him. His breath hitched many times as he continued to say profanity to describe his feelings. Finally he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up.

"Mercy, for the love of God mercy," he said as he pushed her onto the bed and climbed over her.  
"I win," she grinned.

"Yes. Yes you did," he said as he pulled her legs apart.

Within seconds he pushed himself into her as their bodies danced with one another. Each movement bringing them closer to being one rather than two.  
"I'm almost there, shit," Chelsea said as she arched and grabbed at the sheets below her.

"Me too," Spencer growled as he pushed himself harder and harder into her.

Chelsea screamed out as her orgasm hit first, with Spencer following moments after. He collapsed next to her panting as sweat dripped down his forehead.

"I don't think there is a single present out there that will top this," Chelsea suddenly said making Spencer chuckle.

"You're telling me. Those damn lips are so good," he said turning his head to look at her.

"You like that?" she giggled.

"No, I fucking loved that," he said, which caused her to burst out laughing.  
"Spencer Reid, what am I doing to you? I'm corrupting your vocabulary," she teased.

"You can corrupt me anytime," he said smiling at her.

Chelsea laughed again before moving closer to him. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I love you nightingale," she said.

"I love you beautiful," he replied.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea emerged from the bedroom freshly showered and ready to start the morning. When she walked out into the living room she could hear Spencer talking to his mom. She walked over to the chair opposite him to wait for their conversation to end. She could hear Ms. Reid talking about a breakfast they had at her facility.

"That's great, Mom. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Did you get the gifts I sent?" He asked.

"I did. I love it. You always know just what books to buy me," she said sweetly.

She could hear her adoration for Spencer shining through.

"I was hoping to do this in person, but I don't really want to wait that long," he said looking over at Chelsea. She furrowed her brows at him, wondering what he was talking about. He waved her over catching her by surprise. "Mom, I want you to meet someone," he said. "Her name is Chelsea ..." He paused waiting for it to sink in with her.

"Spencer do you have a girlfriend?" she asked in an unreadable tone.

"I do and she's really special Mom," he said glancing at Chelsea who was nervously rubbing her hands together. He reached out and grabbed them to calm her down.

"Well, let me talk to her," Ms. Reid said.

Spencer pulled the phone further back, making room for Chelsea. She scooted closer to Spencer and smiled at the phone.

"Hi Ms. Reid, it's nice to finally meet you. Spencer talks about you all the time," she said feeling her voice shake slightly.

Ms. Reid didn't say anything. She stared at Chelsea with narrow eyes. After a moment of awkward silence, Spencer opened his mouth to talk, but Ms. Reid interrupted him.

"You're very pretty. What about intelligence? Are you smart?" she probed.

"Mom," Spencer admonished.

"It's ok, Spence," Chelsea said. "I'm not as smart as Spencer, but I can hold my own."

"What's your IQ?"

"I don't know ma'am. My guess would be average," Chelsea said feeling embarrassed.

"Mom," Spencer warned again.

"Do you read?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am. I love reading," Chelsea replied.

"Do you have a favorite book?"

"There are too many wonderful writers to pinpoint just one book. John Steinbeck, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe, Maya Angelou. There are just too many," Chelsea reiterated.

"I see …" Ms. Reid said as she leaned back in her chair. "Spencer, I need to go. It's someone else's turn to use the video phone."

"It was nice to meet you," Chelsea said sadly as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Merry Christmas Spencer," Ms. Reid said.

"Mom!" Spencer said in shock.

With that the screen went blank. Chelsea jumped up from the couch and ran to the bedroom. She slammed the door shut just as Spencer reached it. As she ran into the bathroom, he was able to palm the door open before it latched.

"Chelsea," he said as grabbed her arm to turn her toward him.

"She hated me Spencer. Your mom hated me," she said as her breathing became more rapid and tears streamed from her eyes.

"She didn't hate you," he said, though he wasn't sure that was true.

"Are you kidding me? Were you not just there for that phone call?" she said as another tear slid down her cheek.

"Give her time. She doesn't know you like I do. She's Schizophrenic darling. She suffers from paranoia. One time I flew her to see me and she thought the government arrested her," he said trying to ease her fears.

Chelsea looked down at her feet as Spencer pulled her closer. He placed his hand under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. Using his thumbs he wiped away the tear stains on her cheeks. Chelsea sighed and laid her head on Spencer's chest. She listened to the soft rhythm of his heartbeat as he rubbed her back reassuringly.

"Give her time. I promise she will love you," he said kissing the top of her head. "Now come out into the living room, because I want to give you your presents." He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out of the room. When they reached the living room, Chelsea stopped in her tracks. Spencer turned to look at her questioningly. She pulled him back towards her, throwing her arms around his neck. She felt him place his hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry I overreacted," she said running a finger along the base of his neck.

"You didn't overreact. It was perfectly understandable," he said sympathizing with her.

"I love you," she said before giving him a quick kiss.  
"I love you too," he said before pulling her towards the tree. "Sit down," he ordered.

Chelsea giggled at his excitement and walked over to the couch. He grabbed a box and handed it to her.

"Start with this one," he said.

Chelsea tore the beautifully wrapped box open and looked inside to find a t-shirt of her favorite band along with tickets to their next concert.  
"Spence, no way!" she squealed hugging the shirt to her chest.

"Wait there's more," he said handing her another box.

Chelsea once again opened the gift and cried out in disbelief. "I'm staying the night in New York?" She said completely shocked by his generosity.

"Not just you. I've already spoken with Hotch and Will. J.J, Garcia, and Emily will be going with you. It's a girl's weekend. With all the tough cases we've been through, I thought you might want a break," he said smiling at her.  
"Spence, wow. I'm in shock right now," she said beaming. "Thank you."

He went to grab another box, but Chelsea protested. "No way. It's my turn to give you some of your gifts," she said sliding off the couch to grab some of the packages she'd hidden under the tree.

After going through each of their gift piles, they both had one left each. Spencer insisted that he go first and handed her a small thin box. She ripped off the paper and opened the white box. She gasped as she looked at a beautiful diamond encrusted infinity necklace. She carefully lifted it from the box as if it would break into a thousand pieces.

"Spencer …" she said looking at him.

"May I put it on you?" he asked smiling proudly at her.

"Yes, please," she said still in shock.

He took the necklace from her hands and waited for her to lift her hair off her neck. He placed it around her and clasped it together. Her hand instinctively grabbed the infinity symbol. "It's stunning. I can't believe you did this for me. This was too much," she said feeling guilty for the amount of items he bought her. He had to have spent over a thousand on her.

"You are worth more than this," he said as he leaned his chin on her shoulder.

"I just … I … I'm speechless," she said reaching a hand up to place on his cheek. "I can't even begin to thank you," she said turning slightly towards him so she could kiss him. As their lips moved together, she pulled back ever so slightly. "Or maybe I can think of a way," she said as a devilish look crossed her features.

Spencer pulled her onto his lap to get better access to her mouth. After a moment of making out, Chelsea pulled herself back again, causing Spencer to moan.

"Don't worry babe. We'll pick up right there in a second. I still have my final gift to give you," she said reaching behind herself to grab the little box. She placed it in his hands and slid off his lap. He looked at her and saw something change in her eyes. Was it fear?

He pulled the paper off and slid the lid to the box off. Staring into it he slowly pulled the gift out. He looked at her and back at the gift. He was afraid to trust what he thought this was for.

"It's really early. I know. And you don't have to use it or anything. I just thought since you are over here all the time anyway, you should have a key to come whenever you want. My home is your home," she said.

Now he knew what the look in her eyes was for. She was afraid of his rejection. That he would think this was too soon and rushing things, which in some ways he supposed it was. Most people don't move this fast with one another after only 2 months of dating. But when things felt this right, did it matter? If you wanted to be with someone all the time and you knew in your heart it was as close to perfection as you could get. Why did time matter? Besides he was never one to fit in with the social norm anyway.

"Spence … please say something." His thoughts were interrupted by Chelsea's voice. He looked at her blue eyes as they searched his trying to figure out what he was thinking. He felt guilty for making her worry. He leaned forward and placed his lips to hers. He gently kissed her before placing his forehead against hers.  
"This is the best gift you could've given me. Honestly I'm surprised. I didn't think you felt as deeply as I did. I'm glad we are on the same page with this," he said kissing her cheek and then moving to her jaw, before trailing down her neck. "I love you infinitely," he said as he tapped her necklace.


	5. Chapter 5

Chelsea's eyes fluttered open as she felt the morning sun beating down on her face. She could feel Spencer against her back sleeping soundly. His breath warming her bare shoulder. She ran her fingers along his arm that was draped over her. Sometimes it felt like a dream. She prayed that she would never wake from it. Her blissful thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone. She sat up and reached for it, hearing Spencer grunt behind her. She looked down at the caller ID.  
"It's not work babe. Get some more rest," she said. She put the phone to her ear. "Hey Brendan, what's up?" She was silently listening as Spencer placed small kisses along her bare back. She tried to slap his hand away when it inched its way to the front of her body. She covered the receiver giggling. "Stop it," she admonished. "Wait what?"

She suddenly tensed at the call. "How long? Well shit, what I'm going to do?" Spencer sat up to look at her. "Alright, take care of yourself," she sighed before hanging up.

"What's the matter?" Spencer asked.

"Brendan tore his ACL. He won't be able to compete in the exhibition in two weeks. How am I going to find a replacement?" she said flopping down onto the pillow. "I don't suppose you dance?" she said only half joking.

"Sorry, I don't dance and even if I did, I can promise it wouldn't be good enough for your exhibition," he said kissing her exposed breast.

"That feels good," she sighed. "But not now. I'm in the middle of a crisis here."

Spencer ignored her and continued to use his lips and tongue to explore her body. Just as he neared her naval, she sat up startling him.  
"What about Derek? Do you think he'd do it?" she said suddenly.

Spencer was taken back a little by the fact that his kissing her didn't stop her brain from thinking of another guy. He tried to push down the small tinge of jealousy that burned inside of him.

"I don't know," was all he could manage to say.

Chelsea grabbed her phone and dialed his number as she slipped out of bed. Spencer watched her walk into the bathroom and shut the door, causing him to drop back onto the bed in anger. He realized that she was worried, but the least she could've done is acknowledge his flirting.

Spencer stood in the kitchen making himself a coffee. He turned when he heard Chelsea enter the kitchen. She was dressed in spandex and a t-shirt.

"Where are you going?" he asked surprised.  
"Derek said he'd be willing to try and learn the dance for the exhibition. I have to get practice in with him as much as possible. He has only two weeks to figure this dance out. A dance that took Brendan 4 months," she said grabbing a banana and bottle of water.

"So I guess that means you are out for lunch with Emily today?" he said trying to hide his irritation.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I really need to practice with him. I'll make it up to you," she said standing up to give him a quick kiss. "I'll call you later and let you know how it's going."

Spencer listened to her leave the house and angrily stomped off to get dressed.

(xxxxx)

The two weeks had flown by and Spencer had successfully hidden his jealousy of the time Derek was spending with Chelsea. At least he thought he did. On the evening before the exhibition, Spencer watched Chelsea quickly pack up her bag, give him a quick kiss, and rush off with Derek. He hadn't realized he was scowling until Emily broke his thoughts.  
"Good thing looks don't kill," she said.

Spencer turned his attention to her and tried unsuccessfully to hide his jealousy.

"Did you two have a fight?" Emily asked as she put her files away.

"No," he snapped. Emily raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm trying not to be like this, but she's been spending practically every free moment at the dance studio," he sighed leaning back in his chair.

"Reid, it's not like she doesn't want to spend time with you. This will all end tomorrow and she'll be back by your side as usual," Emily said trying to ease his mind.

"I know, I know," he said running his fingers through his hair.

"Poor boy. Jealousy's a bitch ain't it," Emily chuckled. "Come on, I'll buy you dinner."

(xxxxx)

The following evening, Chelsea stood in the dressing room with her girls. They were putting the finishing touches on their hair and makeup, while waiting for the call that they were to head to the staging area.

"Alright girls, we have only a few minutes before we go out there. I know you are all nervous and I understand that, but I want you to know that no matter what happens I am proud of you. You have all worked so hard and have put in so much time. I want you to just have fun out there. Forget the crowd, forget the judges. Just enjoy dancing," she said just as a knock on the door interrupted their pow-wow.

"Dance Dream, you guys are up next," someone with a headset said.

The girls all chattered nervously as they followed Chelsea out the door.

The girls performed wonderfully and enjoyed the performance. Chelsea was thrilled with them. They received a lot of cheers and whistles following the act. A couple of the kids performed their solo or duo performances and did great as well. Chelsea was very proud, but was still super nervous for her turn with Derek. He had proven to be a fantastic dancer, but she still worried that two weeks worth of practice wasn't nearly enough for them to pull it off. Her heart was pounding as she stood in the wings waiting for them to go on. She knew somewhere out in the crowd the team was watching her as well. That made things twice as nerve wracking. She didn't want to look like a fool in front of them … and especially in front of Spencer.

(xxxxx)

Spencer sat next to Emily and Rossi enjoying the show so far. He had forgotten all about his jealousy with Chelsea and couldn't wait to see her perform. He shot Emily a look of excitement when the host announced Derek and Chelsea. The team shouted and clapped louder than the others as the stage went dark and the music began. The song _Chandelier_ by Sia started playing as Derek and Chelsea walked slowly toward one another from opposite sides of the stage. When they reached each other, Derek placed his arm on her waist and she laid her arm on his shoulder. Their other hands clasped together as they danced nearly cheek to cheek.

Chelsea swung out her leg and spun around Derek before he threw his arms around her pulling her close to his chest as they did a circle together. Chelsea broke from his arms and did a few back flips away from him. She ran back towards him and dropped to knees. He pulled her back up to his body as they held each other close again and did a sort of skip together.

Derek held her from behind in his arms with his head by her neck. They swayed in each other's arms when Chelsea tried to get out of his arms, he would pull her back in tightly. His hands running along the front of her body.

Emily glanced down to see Spencer's knee bouncing and his hand gripping the seats armrest. "Uh oh," she thought. She reached out and placed her hand on top of his, but he moved it away and tucked it under his arms that were now folded across his chest.

On stage Chelsea was once again spinning around Derek. She danced away from him before running back and leaping into the air. His hands held her up over his head. One hand held her waist while the other braced her leg as it lifted into the air. He spun in his spot before lowering her back down. Slowly. Across his chest as she slid down to face him. When her feet touched the ground, they danced close together again across the stage. Then as if she were dying, Chelsea slowly staggered in his arms and bent backwards as they both slid to the floor in each other's arms. The music ended and the crowd went wild. Everyone except for Spencer.


	6. Chapter 6

At the end of the exhibition, Chelsea raced into the crowd to find her friends. They were waiting for her near the left entrance of the auditorium.

"There they are, Fred and Ginger," Rossi teased as he pulled Chelsea into a hug. "You are quite the dancer my dear. Congratulations."

Derek came trotting into view flaunting his trophy.

"There will be no living with him," Emily said as she rolled her eyes.

"You gotta give it to him though. Only two weeks and we still took home first," Chelsea said happily.

"Doesn't say much about the competitors then does it," Spencer quipped.

Chelsea shot him a look of confusion and the others glanced at each other.

"Is something wrong?" Chelsea asked as she looked around the group before settling back on Spencer.  
"Nope," he said shaking his head emphatically, but the look on his face said different.

"Let's go celebrate. Everyone up for ice cream?" J.J. asked as Henry and Jack shouted with joy.

"Can we go dad?" Jack asked as he tugged on his dad's arm.

"Yea, we can go," Hotch said smiling.

The group walked out together towards their cars.

"That was really amazing. You are a great dancer," J.J. said to Chelsea.

"You'll probably have a lot of explaining to do to Henry," Spencer said below his breath.

"What?" Chelsea said stopping in her tracks.  
J.J. and Emily walked off leaving the two alone. Spencer turned to face Chelsea who now stood with her arms crossed and her stance defensive.

"Alright, you have something to say, then say it," she snapped.

"I don't have anything to say," he mimicked her stance.

"What is going on with you Spence? You never act like this," she said confused by his behavior.

"Yea, well you never acted like this before either," he said frowning at her.

"Act like what? What the hell did I do?" Chelsea said throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Are you kidding me? If I knew that's what you were doing for two weeks I wouldn't have been so understanding," he said as the others stood by their cars trying not to listen.

Chelsea started laughing, "Understanding? What exactly did you have to be so understanding about Spencer? Enlighten me."

"I thought you taught dance, not … strip club dancing," he stated.

Behind them, Garcia gasped loudly. Spencer and Chelsea shot them all a look, leading Hotch to try and shoo everyone away.

"Strip club dancing?" Chelsea said in shock.

"Well, you were all over each other," Spencer said shooting Derek a look.

"All over each other? Are you fucking kidding me?" Chelsea said caught completely off guard by this. "I worked really hard on creating that story …"

"It was a fantastic love story," he said sarcastically.

"Ya know what, I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about this. I didn't do anything wrong and neither did Derek. I find it kind of shameful that you actually think so little of not only me, but of your best friend," she said angrily. Spencer opened his mouth to talk. "Save it. I've heard enough from you tonight. I'm going out to celebrate. You do what you want, but don't come and pout." With that she turned and walked off leaving Spencer watching her angrily.

At the restaurant, Chelsea tried to forget her argument, but she was so heated she couldn't enjoy the company. She felt someone nudge her shoulder. Glancing to her left she saw J.J. giving her a sympathetic smile.

"How you holding up?" she asked.  
"Not well. I don't know if I'm more angry or disappointed. I never expected that from Spencer," she frowned as she took a sip of her soda.

"Look, I'm not agreeing with Spence. He was clearly out of line tonight," J.J. began. "But I've also known him for 12 years and I know in that time he's had two girlfriends. One was long distance with a movie star, Lila Archer," J.J. said causing Chelsea to nearly choke on her drink. J.J. giggled. "Yea, I know. We were all surprised as well. Poor Spence. She was way too much for him, but it gave him a little confidence. Although I'm pretty sure she cheated on him constantly. I mean, it's not really surprising considering the distance, but we were all glad when that relationship ended."

J.J. stopped to take a sip of her tea, letting some of that information sink in before moving on.

"What about his second girlfriend? Was she better for him?" Chelsea asked curious to know about the women he was around.

"I honestly don't know. Sadly, we never got to meet her, but she seemed to make him really happy. He kept it hidden from us, but we could all see the change in his behavior. He was smiling a lot and was always sneaking off to make private calls," J.J. said smiling at the memory.

"What happened? Why did they break up?" Chelsea said invested in the rest of the story.

J.J.'s smile faded and a haunted, sad look crossed her eyes. "She was being stalked while they were dating. It's why he called her in secret and they never met. She thought she was in the clear to meet him, but they never got the chance …" J.J. faded off.

"Did she … die?" Chelsea asked.

J.J. nodded. "Yea. She was kidnapped by the stalker. Spencer made it there to save her. He offered his life if she would just let Maeve go. But instead … she shot herself and Maeve … in front of Spencer. In front of all of us. I've seen him face a lot over the years. A lot of loss and trials with his mother. I've never seen him so lost before. I was afraid for him. He wouldn't leave the house. In fact he destroyed it …" she stopped as she looked at Chelsea's expression. "Look I don't mean to bring you down. My point is, please go easy on him. He doesn't know how to deal with relationships. No one ever taught him and as much as we try to offer him advice, only experience will be enough to ease his fears. He has a long history of abandonment and self-esteem issues. Again, not saying that gives him the right to treat you how he did. I just think understanding his background is important if you want to make this last."

Chelsea nodded before leaning over and hugging J.J.

"You are a great friend, Jayje. Spence is lucky to have you in his life," she whispered to her friend as she held her tight.

"I'm always here for you guys," she responded.

Chelsea let go and began her goodbyes. No one protested as they knew where she was going.

(xxxxx)

Spencer sat on his couch spooning ice cream into his mouth. He snuggled into his robe on the couch flipping through the channels trying to find something to distract him. He felt like such an idiot. Why did he get so jealous? He knew that Chelsea and Derek weren't doing anything. Now he'd ruined everything and Chelsea was probably going to break up with him. He'd be surprised if she even talked to him again. He couldn't blame her. He'd acted like a royal asshole. As he continued to beat himself up mentally there was a knock at the door.

He groaned and rolled off the couch, placing the ice cream container and spoon down on the end table. He trudged over to the door, figuring he'd find J.J. waiting for him. She was always around to try and cheer him up when she thought he was hurting. He looked out the peephole and furrowed his brow before opening the door.

"Can I come in?" Chelsea asked softly.

Spencer nodded and moved aside letting her into the room. She was glad to see he hadn't trashed the place, but she did see the carton of ice cream and he looked disheveled in his robe. He wanted to apologize for his behavior and beg her not to leave him, but his mouth betrayed him.

"What do you want?" he asked harshly.

Chelsea's heart sunk a little at his bite, but she stood her ground.

"Spencer, look I'm really upset with you. I worked so hard on that dance and I thought you'd be proud of me. I thought … I was humiliated when you reacted the way you did," she said as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Spencer felt the chip on his shoulder melting away as he looked at the heartbreak in her eyes.

"Chelsea …" he said walking towards her. "I … I'm sorry. Please don't cry," he said overcome with intense guilt.

"I really wanted you to like what I did," she said as tears trickled down her cheeks.

Spencer reached out and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I was being a jerk. I should have been more supportive and not act so jealous. You just … you looked so amazingly sexy up there that I couldn't fathom why you'd chose me over someone as beautiful as Morgan," he said as he finally pushed through to the reason for his jealousy.

Chelsea pulled back to look into his hazel eyes. "This jealousy coming from the man who dated Lila Archer," she said raising an eyebrow at him.

She saw his cheeks blush. "Who spilled those beans?"

Chelsea giggled. "J.J, but to her defense she was knocking some sense into me," she said putting her arms around his neck.

"The Lila thing was more of a transference relationship," he started.  
"No, don't sell yourself short Spencer. She saw in you, exactly what I see in you and she jumped at the opportunity. I bet there are a lot more woman who would do the same if you gave them the time of day instead of hiding behind that beautiful shy brain of yours," she smiled before kissing his lips chastly.

"Alright, that's enough," he said getting uncomfortable with the talk about him.

"Every day I'm blessed to be with you, I'm going to remind you how amazing you are until one day you wake up and see it for yourself," Chelsea stated.

"Good luck with that," he said rolling his eyes.  
"Challenge accepted," she grinned before kissing him again. Chelsea pulled back from their kiss and gave Spencer a seductive glance. "There are good things about fighting, ya know."

"There are? Like what?" he asked thoroughly confused.  
"Makeup sex," she said grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bedroom.

"Oh," he said following her with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Warning: this chapter has more mature sexual situations. Don't read if you don't like details.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea groaned against Spencer's bare chest as the sound of their phones woke them up. Spencer put his long arm out to grab his phone, while Chelsea buried her face deeper into his shoulder.

"What time is it?" she mumbled with a gruff voice.

"Four," he said as he tried to adjust to the phone's bright light.

"Didn't we just go to bed?" she said grumpily.

"Are you complaining?" he teased.

"About the sex, hell no. About being woken up, yes," she said pulling the covers up to her chin.

"We gotta get up though. We have a case in Las Vegas," he said placing the phone back down on the nightstand.

"Awe your home," she said, but still didn't move.

"Come on sleepy," he said pulling the covers back to expose her naked body to the cold morning air. "We're going to be late if you keep rolling back over." He said as he placed kisses along her neck and slowly trailed down to her breasts.

"Well, damn you keep doing that and we'll be late cause I'll jump your bones," she said as she ran her fingers through his hair.

He chuckled as he stood up. "Come on. I'll start the shower for you," he said walking towards the bathroom.

"You're not going to shower with me?" she pouted as she finally sat up.

"Maybe … maybe not," he teased.

Chelsea rolled out of bed and ran towards the bathroom. She pushed past him and jumped into the shower.

"Suddenly got some fire in your step?" he asked as he turned to brush his teeth.

"It's cold," she complained. "You left me to freeze," she said popping her head out of the shower and poking out her lip.

"Awe poor baby, I'm so sorry," he played along as he rinsed his mouth from the toothpaste. Walking over he kissed her lip that was sticking out.

"Get in here, now," she said huskily, pulling on his arm.

"Babe, we're going to be late," he said as he walked into the shower and shut the door.

"Then skip the foreplay and make it quick," she said as she threw her arm around his neck. Before he could answer she crashed her mouth against his and began stroking him. Spencer tried to resist, but his hormones took control of his brain. Brilliant mind and he still was weak when it came to sex. He moaned in Chelsea's mouth before pressing her back against the cold wall. She gasped at the coldness, but ignored it when he lifted her off her feet. Spencer wasted no time entering her, causing them both to cry out in pleasure. Realizing he didn't have a lot of time to play around, he started pushing himself into her rapidly. Chelsea held on to his shoulders to help balance herself, while he grasped her butt tightly. Within moments, he was nearly at the edge.  
"Babe … I'm almost there," he whispered.

"It's ok, just go. If I don't finish its ok," she assured him.

"No you have to …" he insisted.

"I promise, its ok. I still enjoyed this. Go ahead and come for me baby," she said as she sucked on his ear lobe.

Spencer wanted to protest further, but as soon as she started nibbling on his ear, he lost it and she felt him finish. Chelsea put her feet back on the ground as he laid his head on her shoulder panting. After a moment of trying to catch his breath, he pulled himself out of her and dropped down to his knees.

"Spence, what are you …" she started but was cut off by his tongue running across her clit. She threw her head back, clutching his hair as she groaned in pleasure. He continued to lick and suck as she cried out his name along with curse words. She felt him slip two fingers inside of her to help work her over. Between the rhythm of his fingers and his warm breath on her sensitive skin, she could barely stand. It didn't take long before she hit her climax and practically fell over onto him.

"Shit, babe," she said gasping for breath.

"Fair is fair," he said standing up and grabbing the soap. He started washing himself as she continued to try and regain her strength. She stood up straight and gave him a quick kiss.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" Chelsea said smiling at him.  
"Ehh, once or twice maybe," he joked before kissing her forehead. "Now get showered, we need to go," he said opening the door and stepping out of the shower. After a minute, she climbed out and looked at the fogged mirror and giggled. In Spencer's scrawl he wrote 'I love you too' on the mirror condensation.

(xxxxx)

"So the latest victim is Kelsey Gordon. She's 24 and was last seen three days ago. She is the 4th person to be found strangled behind a ritzy strip club, Lace & Diamonds," Penelope said as she showed a picture of Kelsey. The girl was beautiful, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"I know that place. It's about 10 minutes outside of where I grew up," Spencer said looking at the screen.

"Frequent visitor?" Derek teased.

Spencer blushed, "no, but everyone knew about it. It was a high end strip club. You had to be wealthy to even get into the building. They didn't allow just anyone in," he explained.

"So someone is after the performers? A jealousy thing? Maybe one of the other dancers?" Chelsea said as she looked up from her tablet.

"Maybe a jealous patron. Someone who wanted to get with the girls, but they wouldn't take him up on the offer?" Derek suggested.

"Are there any connections to the girls outside of work?" Rossi asked.  
"None that we have found," Penelope responded. "Another piece I haven't mentioned is we haven't been asked to help by the local PD."

The team looked around at one another in confusion.

"So, who asked us?" Emily said.

"The owner of Lace & Diamonds, Lou Marsetti. He has offered to pay for the investigation because he is losing his best employees which is effecting his business."

"Have the police been involved with the investigation at all?"

"They have, but strippers and hookers are in a high risk job that results in unfathomable number of deaths per year. So they don't have that much time and money to put towards these types of cases," Penelope said frowning. "Basically, they already put the other three murdered women in a cold case file."  
"Alright, let's work with the theories we've come up with some more. Wheels up in 30," Hotch said as he stood up from the table.

When they arrived in Nevada, the team immediately went to a local hotel that Lou had reserved for them. Once they were checked in, they met up in the hotel's conference room. Hotch already had a map hung up for them and a stack of cardboard boxes sat on the tables in front of him.

"I had these dropped off for us. It's all the information the local PD has gathered regarding the victims so far," Hotch stated. "Rossi and Morgan I want you to begin looking through the files, see if anything catches your eye. J.J. and I are going to start talking to the victim's families. Reid, Prentiss, and Reese I want you to go Lace & Diamond's and start talking with the staff."

(xxxxx)

Spencer, Emily, and Chelsea walked into the exclusive "gentleman's club" as the owner referred to it. Chelsea just thought it looked like a more expensive strip club. Fancy labels didn't change what it truly was – a place to degrade women. Chelsea glanced at Spencer to see what he was doing. She was comforted by the fact that he was looking around the place, but his eyes drifted over the scantily clad women as if they weren't even there. They saw a heavy set looking man walking towards them. He wore a business suit and his gray hair was styled in a gelled ponytail.

"Thank you for coming," the man said as he reached them. "Lou Marsetti."

Emily reached out and shook his hand. "SSA Emily Prentiss. These are my partners, SSA Chelsea Reese and Dr. Spencer Reid."

As usual the man did a double take at Spencer, but didn't say anything.

"What's the best way to begin?" Lou asked.

"We need to talk with all of the employees here. The more information we receive the better our chances of figuring out who is doing this and why," Chelsea said.

"You can use the private rooms to conduct the interviews," Lou said as he led them to rooms. When they reached the rooms, Lou walked off to go get a list of the employees and start sending them to the agents.

"Alright, lets shoot for about 30 minutes and we'll meet back up to discuss what we've found, if anything," Emily said in a hushed voice.

"Excuse me?"

They turned around to see a tall, thin brunette with bright brown eyes staring at them. She was clearly a dancer as she wore nothing but underwear, fishnet stockings, and a black bra that barely covered her large breasts. Her face was heavily covered in makeup. They looked at her questioningly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I thought I overheard someone say the name Spencer Reid," she said.

Chelsea and Emily both looked at Spencer who glanced at them before back at the girl.

"Yes … that's me," he said furrowing a brow. "Do I know you?"

"Spencer Reid from Alverson High?" she clarified.

He nodded his head as he squinted at her to try and recall who she was.

"We went to school together. Alexa Lisbon," she said.

Spencer felt his heart stop. Immediately his mind flashed back to being 13 years old when Harper Hillman stopped him in the hallway.

" _Hey Spencer," she said flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder._

" _H … hi Harper," he said nervously adjusting his glasses._

" _What are you doing?" she asked as she walked with him in the empty hallway._

" _No … nothing. I was … I was just going home," he said._

" _Well look, I don't know if you've got time or not, but Alexa asked me to see if you could meet her at the football field," she said nonchalantly._

" _A … Alexa? Lisbon?" he said in disbelief.  
"She'd kill me if she knew I was telling you this, but she thinks you're cute," Harper said with no hint of teasing in her tone._

" _What? Me? No … no way," Spencer said as his heart fluttered._

 _Could it be? Could she really think he was cute?_

" _I know it's weird. I get it, but sometimes Spencer … sometimes your heart doesn't let you decide who you fall in love with. It just does," she said placing her hand on his shoulder. "Anyway, if you want to she'll be waiting for you."_

 _With that Harper walked off leaving Spencer alone in the hallway. He debated for a few minutes, but slowly wandered towards the football field, letting his curiosity get the better of him. He stepped outside into the warm sun and looked around. The parking lot was empty and there were no other kids in sight. As he walked towards the football field, there she was. Sitting on sideline bench. The wind blowing her dark brown ringlets. Spencer walked quietly up behind Alexa and took a deep breath._

" _Hi," he said as his voice shook._

 _She turned around and smiled at him. "I didn't think you would come," she said._

 _Before Spencer could say anything else, he heard laughter behind him. A group of kids had suddenly appeared behind him. He recognized them as members of the football team and cheerleaders. His heart no longer fluttered from excitement, but fear._

" _This loser actually showed up," one of the boys laughed.  
"Did you actually think someone as gorgeous as Alexa would want you?" A popular kid named Tommy said._

 _Spencer tried to back away, but the group now surrounded him._

" _He probably wanted to fuck her," a boy said laughing._

" _I bet he can't even get it up," a cheerleader snarled._

 _Before Spencer knew it, three of the boys had pushed him into the grass and started pulling at his clothes.  
"Stop! What are you doing? No please! Leave me alone! Help!" Spencer screamed as he felt the sun hitting his bare flesh._

 _The boys grabbed him and started dragging him across the field as he heard laughter, taunting, and cheers. He felt rope being tied around his wrists and his ankles as he screamed for help. He felt tears pouring down his face as the others continued to ridicule him. They called him names for crying. One kid even slapped him so hard his glasses fell of his face. Standing naked against the goal post as the others made fun of him, he felt like killing himself. It was the one time in his life he wished he were dead. After what felt like an eternity, everyone left. Leaving him alone and humiliated._

"Spencer?"

His eyes fluttered as he escaped the memory. He saw Chelsea standing in front of him. Her eyes were full of concern. He had never told her about Alexa before. Actually nobody knew, except for Derek.

"Spencer are you ok?" Chelsea asked as she held herself back from touching him in a tender way since she was working.

"I'm fine," he said barely audibly.

Emily shot Alexa a dirty look.

"I know you are here to investigate the death of those girls …" Alexa started.

"Yea, so if you don't mind we'll get to you when it's your turn," Emily said tersely.

Alexa nodded and slinked off. Glancing behind her as she walked away.

"Spencer, look at me," Chelsea said as she tried to catch his gaze.

He kept avoiding her eye contact.

"Reid are you going to be ok? Do you want to go back to the hotel?" Emily asked worrying about Spencer's focus.

He shook his head and looked up at the girls, taking a deep breath.

"No … no I'm ok. I can do this," he insisted.

Emily nodded as she looked over the list. "I know we talked about being alone, but Chelsea why don't you pair up with Spencer."  
"No, I'm fine. I don't need a babysitter," he snapped.

"I wasn't insinuating …" Emily tried.

"Just start sending them in. Let's get this over with," Spencer said as he rolled his eyes and walked into one of the rooms.

30 minutes later, Chelsea knocked on the door to the private room Spencer was in. She opened it and stepped inside. A girl with her hair in red braids turned to look at Chelsea. Her breasts were large and barely covered by the napkin sized top she was wearing. It made Chelsea feel a small tinge of insecurity, but she buried it down.

"That'll be all for now. Thanks Becky," Spencer said as he closed his notebook.

"Sure thing Dr. Reid," she said reaching across the table to run her hand across Spencer's. "The offer still stands if you change your mind."

Chelsea glared at her as she walked out of the room. She waited until the door closed and rolled her eyes.  
"Offer?" she asked.  
"You don't want to know," he responded.

"Anything stick out to you?" Chelsea said as she walked over to stand next to him. She noticed he was avoiding eye contact with her. "Spence? Are we ok?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Yes, of course, why?" he said suddenly looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"I just … you wouldn't look at me. I was worried … do you … have history with that girl?" Chelsea asked feeling suddenly stupid for voicing her concern.

Before Spencer could answer, the door opened and Emily walked in. "Alright, I don't know about you guys, but I have not a damn thing," Emily sighed as she dropped her notebook onto the table.

"Nothing with me either," Spencer said as he turned his attention to Emily.  
"Most of the girls seemed rather indifferent. Like that was just one less girl in the way of making money," Chelsea said. "There was one girl who was genuinely upset about it. Her name was Claire. She said that Kelsey was like a sister to her. She was mentoring her."

"Mentoring? Aim higher Claire," Emily said clearly disgusted with this profession. "Let's head back to the hotel. I need to clear my mind."

They gathered up their items and left.


	8. Chapter 8

Back at the hotel, some of the team went off to pick up dinner, while the others stayed in the conference room working on possible motives and theories. Chelsea and Derek had paired up together to go over the notes taken at Lace & Diamonds.

"It seemed like there wasn't a lot of concern for the victims," Chelsea said to Derek as she stared at Emily's notes.

"Well, it's not a shock. This profession is known for drawing in weirdos, pervs, and criminals," Derek said as he scribbled something on the board.

"Yea, but I get the vibe that those girls compete for the number one spot there. Like every girl gone is another chance for them to be at the top," she said frowning.

Derek nodded as he continued to write notes. Chelsea looked around and saw that Hotch had left the room and Rossi was on a phone call. She scooted closer to Derek and lowered her voice.  
"Hey Derek, can I ask you something personal?"

He turned and saw her leaning toward him. He nodded and walked over to sit down next to her. "Sure, what's up?"

"You're close with Spence right?" She said this more as a conformation than an actual question.

"Yea, troubles in paradise?" he asked.  
"No, not really. I don't think anyway. Has he … has he ever mentioned a girl named Alexa Lis … Lisman?" she asked trying to remember the name.

"Lisbon?" Derek said as his face dropped.

"Yea, her. Who is she?" Chelsea asked realizing Derek did know something.

"Spencer didn't tell you about her?" he said looking around the room as if Spencer were testing his confidence.

"No, she was at that club. She came up and tried to talk to him, but he … he got this look on his face … I couldn't really place it. Anger maybe? Either way I could tell there was a history, but he wouldn't talk about it," she explained.

Derek sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Shit," he said running a hand over his face. He looked at Chelsea and could see the worry running through her eyes. "Look, it's not what you're thinking. There is no … romantic history … but I can't tell you what happened. You need to let him tell you … when he's ready," Derek explained.

Chelsea nodded her understanding just as Spencer and Emily returned carrying bags of food.

(xxxxx)

Chelsea found that she couldn't sleep that night. She was pacing the hotel room, when she decided to get her things and head back over to the club. She wanted to view the employees during peak hours to see if anything stood out to her. When she reached the club it was a little after one. She showed the bouncer her credentials and told him she was there to see Lou.

Inside the club the vibe had changed drastically since they were there last. There were more naked women walking and dancing around as men drank heavily and gawked at the girls. He saw a few of the men being escorted to private areas, where she was sure she didn't want to know what they would do.

"You're a little to clothed sweetheart."

Turning around she saw a heavy set white man with curly brown hair staring at her. He was in a black suit and had a red tie on. The suit was too tight for his body type.

"Excuse me?" Chelsea said glaring at him.

"Let me see your tits," he said wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Chelsea pulled her suit jacket open enough for him to see her gun and badge attached to her hip. His eyes widened a bit.

"You're lucky I don't shoot your balls off. You are disgusting. You should be home with your wife," she said pointing at his finger that was pale from the missing ring. "I bet you have kids too. You're a disgrace. Get out of my sight," she snapped.

The man went to protest, but thought better of it and walked away.

"Wow! That was amazing! Sometimes I wish I could say things like that," a voice behind her spoke.

Chelsea turned to find the girl she knew to be Alexa smiling at her.

"You chose this job," Chelsea said harshly.

Alexa frowned. "Sometimes you aren't left with much of a choice."

"I'd rather flip burgers," Chelsea said as she turned to walk off.

"I guess Spencer told you about what I did?" Alexa said following Chelsea.

"No, as a matter of fact he didn't. But rest assured, I will find out and if you hurt him … I will hurt you," Chelsea threatened.

"I deserve that. Is he … is he ok? Like is he happy?" Alexa asked.  
Chelsea stopped in her tracks and turned back to face Alexa. "I don't really know who you are, but I'm not going to talk to you about Spencer."

Alexa gave a small smile. "I can see he means a lot to you. I'm glad … I'm glad that he has people in his life that care for him. People around here … they pretend to care. Act like your sister one minute and then stab you in the back the next," she said.

Chelsea stared at Alexa unsure of what to say. Eventually, Alexa looked down at her feet and walked off towards the stage.

After an hour of observing the scene from a distance, Chelsea finally left and walked back to the hotel. She couldn't stop replaying the conversation she had with Alexa over and over her mind. When she got back to the hotel, she headed straight for the conference room to try and study the notes further. There was no way she would be able to sleep with her mind reeling. When she pushed open the conference room door, she was surprised to see Spencer sitting at the table. He turned to the door, looking surprised to see her.

"Hey, you're up late," he said putting his pencil down.

"I could say the same to you," she said gently. "Couldn't sleep."

"Me neither," he said leaning back in his chair. "There just doesn't seem to be any leads with this case. It's frustrating."

Spencer ran his fingers through his hair and then across his eyes. Chelsea walked over and sat down next to him. She placed her hand over his.

"You sure that's all?" she asked not taking Derek's advice.

"What do you mean?" Spencer said pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Spence," she said giving him a look.

"I don't really want to talk about it," he said.

"Why? You can trust me," she assured him.

"It's not about trusting you Chelsea," he said getting a bit irritated.

"Then why can't you tell me, but you can tell Derek?" she asked knowing she was crossing a line that could go terrible for her.

"You talked to Derek about me?" he asked incredulously.

"Sort of. I asked him if he knew who Alexa was and I could tell he did, but he wouldn't tell me anything," she said.

Spencer jumped up from his seat. "Geez Chelsea! When I tell you I don't want to talk about something, that doesn't mean you can go snooping behind my back," he snapped at her.

"I wasn't snooping … I was worried," she said getting to her feet as well.

"Worried? About what? I told you I was fine!" he said raising his voice angrily.

"I was worried about us! I didn't know who she was, but I could tell that there was some history there and I worried ..." she took a deep breath calming herself. "I was worried it was romantically." She said feeling her face turn red from embarrassment and shame.

Spencer felt angry and tried to calm himself realizing that she didn't know and didn't mean to pry. But he couldn't get over the fact that she was pushing him to talk about something he was humiliated by. Something he didn't want to relive … especially with her. He didn't want to see the pity in her eyes. For her to look at him differently.

"I got to go," he said before walking toward the conference room door.

"Spencer, wait! I'm sorry!" she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

He stared at the door knob that his hand held and sighed. Turning it, he walked out of the conference room leaving Chelsea to drop into a chair in tears.

(xxxxx)

The next morning, Hotch was the first to arrive in the conference room. He was surprised to find Chelsea sitting in front of the marker board. She was staring at a jumble of notes that had been scrawled everywhere.

"Reese? You're here early … or late," he said as he walked toward her.  
"Yes sir. Couldn't sleep. I still have this overwhelming feeling we are missing a minor detail that will give us a lead," she said not looking away from the board.  
"Sometimes to find the missing piece of a puzzle you need to walk away and clear your head," Hotch said as he stood next to her.

"Understood sir," she said as she stood up and walked out of the room. As she did she bumped straight into Spencer. She looked into his tired eyes and without a word she moved past him and continued walking. He watched her go feeling the urge to reach out and hold her. To apologize for the night before, but instead he proceeded into the conference room.

As Chelsea stood in line at the local coffee shop, her mind continued to run through the notes on the board. She still had a nagging feeling there was something there she hadn't noticed before. Suddenly it hit her. A lightbulb shined bright in her mind as the phrase that was off caught her. She knew who the unsub was. She turned on her heels and ran from the building as she pulled her phone from her pocket.  
"Hotch, I know who it is! It's Claire Marshall! I'm heading that way now! Meet me there!" she said as she jumped back into the SUV.

As she was driving, she was patched through to Rossi.

"I knew there was something bothering me. I just couldn't figure it out. Then it hit me. Claire kept telling me that Kelsey was like a sister to her. That she was mentoring her. All normal things to say that wouldn't cause alarm. When I went back to the club last night to do some more investigating," she started.

"You went back to the club?" Hotch interrupted.

"Yes, you can yell at me later," she said as she pulled into a backstreet. "I ran into Alexa." She wasn't in the car with them, but she could almost feel Spencer wince. "She was talking to me and asking me questions when she suddenly made this odd comment … about how you can't trust anyone at that place. They act like your sister one minute and stab you in the back the next. Why would she specifically use the name sister with back stabbing? Most would say, act like your best friend. She specified sister. She was trying to tell me something. She knew who did it, but couldn't tell us or was afraid to tell us," Chelsea said.

"We are about 5 minutes behind you. Do not go into that building without us. Is that understood?" Hotch stated.

"Yes, sir," she agreed as she pulled to a stop in the parking lot.

Chelsea reached into the backseat and grabbed her vest. As she was slipping the vest on her, she heard a knock on the window. She turned to see Claire holding a gun to Alexa's head. Chelsea held her hands up as she stared back at the young black haired unsub, who was no more than 24.

"Roll down the window," Claire ordered.

Chelsea slowly pushed the button to drop the window before putting her hands back up in submission.

"Good now, throw your weapons out the window," she said.

Chelsea once again obeyed and tossed her two guns onto the cement. She knew the team would be here soon, so it was best to cooperate. Claire reached out and tugged on the backdoor. "Unlock it!" She snapped. Chelsea did as she was told. Claire then grabbed Alexa and ordered her into the car. She followed quickly behind. "Drive," she said as she switched the gun to Chelsea's head now.

As Chelsea started to drive out of the parking lot, she saw the other SUV pulling down the street.

"Do not stop! Keep going!" Claire shouted as she slammed the gun into the side of Chelsea's head.

"Well, shit! If you hit me I won't be able to drive," Chelsea snapped as she felt a trickle of blood drip down her face.

"Fine," Claire cried before turning and pistol whipping Alexa across the face.  
"I'm going! Knock it off!" Chelsea shouted as she stepped on the gas and pulled out in front of Hotch.

As she sped through the streets, Hotch stayed close behind her. Chelsea was trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation.

"Claire, you don't have to do this," Chelsea started.

"Shut up! You don't know what my life is like," she yelled.

"You're right I don't. I have no idea, but I do know that this isn't going to end well. We are being followed closely by my team. There's nowhere to hide. Eventually we'll run out of gas," Chelsea said as she continued down the busy road.

"I have a hostage. It's not like they'll shoot me," Claire replied.

"The thing is we are really good at what we do Claire," Chelsea looked in her rearview mirror and noticed that Alexa had buckled herself in, but Claire wasn't.

With that Chelsea noticed a guard rail with a steep hill that lead to a small retention pond to her right. She said a quick prayer in her mind and turned the wheel sharply towards the rail.


	9. Chapter 9

Hotch kept the SUV close to Chelsea as he radioed for help from the local PD. They had their siren running as cars pulled out of the way for them. Rossi was riding in the front seat, while Derek, Emily, and Spencer were squashed together in the back. Emily reached out at one point and lightly patted Spencer's knee that was shaking uncontrollably. He gave her a quick glance and she could see the worry in his eyes.

Suddenly in front of them the SUV veered to the right. It smashed into the guard rail and flipped over it. Emily and Derek both let out audible gasps, while Spencer found himself not breathing at all. Hotch immediately hit the breaks' allowing them to all jump out and run toward the now rolling SUV. They stopped at the top of the hill and watched it continue to roll like a ball down the hill before it came to a halt right side up in the pond.

By this time the entire team was running down the hill with their guns still drawn. Unsure of what they would find when they reached the bottom. Derek was the first to reach the SUV, he carefully walked around the passenger side and pulled the door open. Claire's body was in a heap on the floor. He reached in and put his fingers to her neck. Peering back out he shook his head to signal to the team she was dead.

Spencer slid down the embankment and ran straight into the water for the front door. He pulled it open and saw Chelsea's lifeless body slumped against the steering wheel. Blood was pouring from a wound on her head. He placed his shaking hands on her neck and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've got a pulse," he called out to the team.

Rossi had gone to the other side to check on Alexa, who was conscious and crying. She, too, was bleeding from the forehead and was cradling her arm.

"Are you alright?" Rossi asked her.  
Alexa nodded as she tried to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Stay where you are. The ambulance is on its way," Rossi insisted.

Alexa's seatbelt snapped off of her and she let out another sob, when she felt a hand grab her and drag her across the seat. Before anyone knew what was happening, Claire had dragged Alexa out of the car and had her in a headlock. She had her gun to Alexa's head and was shouting, almost incoherently, at everyone to back away or she would shoot. Derek, Emily, and Hotch backed away training their guns on Claire, while Rossi slowly moved around the car. Spencer stayed next to Chelsea, but trained his weapon on Claire as well.

"I thought you said she was dead!" Hotch snapped at Derek.

"I swear man, there was no pulse!" Derek said in shock.

"Drop the gun now Claire!" Emily shouted as the scene continued to get worse.

Bystanders held up cell phones to video the scene. The ambulance had just arrived, but they couldn't help Chelsea until the threat was eliminated. Spencer was getting angrier. Every second counted with Chelsea's life.

"Let her go Claire. We can help you," Emily promised the girl.

"No! You can't help me!" Claire screamed. "Don't take another step or I'll shoot her!"

The team started to back off, making Spencer angry.

"Shoot her. I don't care," Spencer suddenly said shrugging.

He heard Hotch yell his name and a few other sounds from the team, but he ignored them.

"Excuse me?" Claire asked turning her attention to him.

"Shoot her. Go ahead. She made my life a living hell," Spencer said as he put his weapon down by his side. "Seriously. You want me to tell the story Alexa? Or do you want to share?"

Alexa's eyes were wide with fear, she shook her head as her voice failed her.

"When I was 13, I was approached by Alexa's best friend, Harper. Harper Hillman to be exact. She told me that Alexa wanted to meet me behind the school at the football field. That she liked me," Spencer started.

The team listened quietly as they continued to keep their aim on Claire.

"Yea, she convinced me that Alexa actually liked a loser like me. So stupid me, I go to the football field. And there she was. In all her beauty, sitting on the bench waiting for me. Or so I thought. Turns out I was just the butt of a cruel joke. Instead of meeting the girl of my dreams, I was tortured by the kids and tied naked to a goal post. Left to be ridiculed and forgotten about," Spencer said angrily.

Tears were streaming down Alexa's face, while the others jaws had unconsciously fallen open in shock at Spencer's story.

"Really sucked Alexa. You destroyed a piece of me that day. Something I could never get back. So if you want to shoot her Claire, shoot her. I don't care. In fact, why don't you just shoot me? What the hell do I have worth living for?"

Claire looked at Alexa and back to Spencer. The team realized that he was trying to take the gun off of Alexa. His tactic seemed to be working as Claire hesitated, her hand wavering with the gun in it.  
"Spencer, no I'm sorry," Alexa said now sobbing. "Please, I'm sorry."  
"Shoot me, Claire," Spencer ordered.

Claire seemed confused at what to do, but she suddenly shrugged lifted her gun and the sound of gun shots erupted into the air.

(xxxxx)

Spencer's face slammed into the warm, murky water. The weight of a body slamming against him had caused him to fall over. He had heard the gun shots, but didn't think that he had been hit. He'd been hit by a body, but not by a bullet. As he struggled to get out of the water he felt hands all around him. He couldn't get his focus with all the chaos in front of him. That's when he saw Chelsea laying in the mud with Derek and Rossi kneeling next to her. He realized Hotch had been the one pulling him out of the water. He swung his arms around until he was free and ran straight for Chelsea. Her eyes were opened and she was breathing heavily.

"What did you do?" he said as a mixture of pond water and tears dripped down his face.

"I'm … ok …" Chelsea assured him as she lifted her hand up to touch his cheek.

"Chelsea, why did you do that?" he said now sobbing as he laid his hand over the gunshot wound to her neck.  
The EMT had reached her and were now pushing Spencer back. Once again he felt hands on him as he tried to break free. Only this time he didn't have enough strength to fight and collapsed to the ground. He felt Derek holding him as he, too, slipped down into the dirt with Spencer. Hotch and Rossi tried to make a barrier around Spencer, while Emily helped Alexa out of the water toward the waiting EMT's. The body of Claire was floating face down in the pond.

(xxxxx)

Spencer sat next to Chelsea holding her limp hand. The machines beeped steady behind him as he looked at her pale face. She looked as if she was just taking a nap. There was a light knock on the door. Spencer called out, "come in," as the door slowly opened. He looked up to see a bruised and bandaged Alexa standing timidly in the doorway.

Spencer frowned, but didn't say anything.

"How … how is she?" Alexa asked with a soft voice.

"She'll be ok," he said looking away from Alexa and back to Chelsea.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Alexa began to speak.

"I know you hate me. I get it. You have every reason to and truthfully, I hate me too. What I did to you all those years ago … if I could go back in time … there aren't even any words to express how sorry I am. I know that sorry doesn't mean anything and won't heal the damage I've caused, but I am sorry Spencer. I have no excuse for the horrible human being I was. I've lived with the guilt my entire life and I prayed that someday I would get a chance to tell you how sorry I am," she said before she started to cry. "Now, to add to my karma, you and your girlfriend saved my life. You risked being killed … for me … I deserved to be shot. You should have let her kill me," Alexa sobbed.

Spencer didn't know why, but he found himself standing up and walking toward her. Reaching out, he slowly, and uncharacteristically gave her a hug. Alexa clutched him with all of her might.  
"I'm so sorry," she bawled into his shoulder. "It should have been me."

Spencer pushed her back so he could look at her. "You don't deserve to die Alexa. I'll admit that the torment you've caused me is indescribable … but I can see that you aren't that person anymore … hell I'm not the same person anymore either and oddly … I forgive you," he said surprising even himself.

"What? No, Spencer," Alexa said shaking her head.

"It's ok. I wouldn't be the man I am today if I hadn't gone through what I did. It took me until today to realize that. I guess a part of me will always wish that it didn't happen, but we can't change the past," he said. "You need to forgive yourself now. You don't deserve to beat yourself up forever."

Alexa laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Wow, you really are something else Spencer Reid. We were the dumbest girls in school not to see what a catch you are. Chelsea is very lucky to have you," Alexa said looking over at the agent lying in the bed. "You know she likes you a lot. I could see it in her eyes when we talked about you."  
Spencer's eyebrows raised. "You talked to her about me?"

"Not about what happened," Alexa assured him. "She didn't want to know, but she was very protective of you."

Spencer felt a tug as his heart as he remembered their fight. How he walked out on her and left her standing there alone.

"I'm going to go home. I just wanted to stop in and check on Chelsea," she said as she walked toward the door. She hesitated and turned around. "Take care of yourself Spencer." She didn't wait for a response. She just opened the door and left.


	10. Chapter 10

"It looks like baby food," Chelsea moaned as she pushed her dinner away.

"Chels, you need to eat something," Spencer said as he pushed the plate back toward her.

"You eat it," she said crossing her arms grumpily over her chest.

Spencer chuckled at her childish display of behavior. He lifted a spoon to his mouth and took a bite.

"There, see I'm still alive. Now eat," he said handing her the spoon.

"How long do I have to eat this crap? I want a burger," she pouted.

"I know babe, but you are on this diet until the doctor gives you clearance," he said sitting on the end of the bed.

"Boy you would think I was shot in the neck or something," she joked. Spencer tilted his head and gave her a look that told her it wasn't funny. She rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine." She stuck the mush into her mouth and swallowed it quickly. She made a face that caused Spencer to laugh.

"You're such a child," he teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him. He leaned over to give her a quick kiss when there was a knock at the door. It opened and Emily popped her head in.

"Hey, you up for a visitor?" she asked.  
"Of course, come on in," Chelsea said happy to push her food aside.

Spencer sighed and moved the tray away. Emily walked in and was followed by a woman in a pink knitted sweater. Her hair was a very light blond that stood up in all directions. Spencer gave a little gasp.

"Mom?"

"Hi Spencer," she said as she walked over to give him a hug.

"What? How?" Spencer stuttered.  
"I got permission to bring her over. I have to have her back in an hour, so don't dilly dally," Emily said as she turned and left the room.

"How are you baby?" Ms. Reid asked as she sat down in a nearby chair.

"I'm fine mom. How did you know … who called you?" he said still surprised by her appearance.

"It was all over the news. Mr. Brachman got in touch with your boss … what's his name hatcher?" she waved her hand as if it was important. "They sent Emily to pick me up. She's a trip that Emily. I like her," Ms. Reid said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry if you were worried mom," Spencer said as he sat down on a chair next to Chelsea's bed.

Ms. Reid smiled and moved her gaze over to Chelsea.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.  
"I'm alright ma'am. Thank you," Chelsea said nervously. The sound of her heart monitor was increasing slightly at her anxiety.

"I saw what you did for my son," she said furrowing her brow. "You risked your life to save him."

"It was nothing. He would've done the same for me," Chelsea said blushing at the attention.

"No … now don't be so flippant about it young lady. You took a bullet to your neck. I may be a schizo, but I am still very sharp. I saw the video and if you hadn't jumped in front of that bullet he would've been hit in the heart and may not be with us right now. I am forever grateful to you," Ms. Reid said as she reached out and grabbed Spencer's hand.

Spencer had tears in his eyes as he bent down to kiss the top of his mom's hand. Chelsea felt herself choking up as well. She couldn't find the words to say, so she just smiled and nodded.

"You look skinny. Are you eating?" she asked in a motherly tone.

"Yes ma'am," Chelsea said.

"No she isn't," Spencer chimed in. "She won't eat the food they gave her."

Ms. Reid stood up and walked over to the tray. She lifted it up with the spoon and let it drop back into the bowl.

"Well no wonder! She's not a dog! What kind of food is this?" she said frowning.

Chelsea laughed. "See your mom agrees with me."

Spencer rolled his eyes. "Mom she's on a certain diet until the doctor gives her permission to eat solids," he explained.  
"So get her some pudding or something. Not this crap," Ms. Reid said as she walked back over to her chair.

Chelsea giggled some more as Spencer folded his arms across his chest. "I guess I'm out numbered here?"

Ms. Reid nodded her head as she crossed her legs. "Alright, so who wants to tell me how you met?"

(xxxxx)

Chelsea walked out of the bathroom three weeks later in just a tank top and underwear. Spencer tried to hide his arousal as she walked over to the bed. She sat down and slid under the covers.

"It's looking better. Itches like hell though," she said as she showed him her scabbing scar.

"Always itches when the skin heals," he said as he ran a finger over the wound. "But it does look a lot better."

He gave it a quick kiss before returning to his book. Chelsea had other ideas. She snatched the book from his hands and laid it down on the nightstand.

"Can I help you?" he asked teasingly.

He could see the heat in her eyes as she scooted closer to him. She threw her leg over his lap and straddled him.

"I've got an adventure for you," she joked as she lifted her shirt over her head and threw it on the floor.

"My favorite kind," he said as he placed gentle kisses along her breasts.

He trailed up until he reached her lips and passionately kissed her.

Chelsea listened to Spencer's gentle heartbeat and soft breathing as he slept next to her. Her head was snuggled against his chest and cradled in his armpit. Her mind wandered happily as she laid there unable to fall asleep. She and Spencer had been together now for 4 months and it was the happiest time of her life. She was blissfully unaware of just how quickly all that could change …

(xxxxx)

I hope you enjoyed this sequel. I look forward to beginning the next chapter of their lives. I have some great ideas! Leave me feedback! Let me know what you like! The more I know the better I can write! Thanks for the support!


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